Street GameChristine Feehan
Little, Brown Book Group
Available Now - £7.99 (Paperback)
Review by Charlotte Barnes
For Mack McKinley and his team of GhostWalker killing machines, urban warfare is an art. But despite a hard-won knowledge of the San Francisco streets, Mack knows from experience that too many things can still go wrong. Danger was just another part of the game - and now he's come face-to-face with a woman who can play just as tough. She's Jaimie, a woman with a sapphire stare so potent it can destroy a man. Years ago she and Mack had a history - volatile, erotic and electric.
Then she vanished.
But now she's walked back into Mack's life again, as a spy with more secrets than are good for her. Against all odds, she's hooking up with Mack one more time to take on an enemy that could destroy them both, or bring them back together in one hot, no-holds-barred adrenaline rush.
I really enjoyed this book, it was cleverly written, engaging, well paced and jam packed with rumpy pumpy. C’or blimey, there were times when I was reading it that I actually blushed from the sauciness of it all. Being completely frank though, I do maintain that the slightly older gentleman sat next to me on the train was peering over my shoulder and reading my book!
What I really like about Street Game is that all the characters are fully developed and there are so many interesting plot twists I really could not guess how the story was going to end. There has been a huge flurry of paranormal romances that are about vampires, witches and werewolves that this novel is a breath of fresh air. All the characters are genetically altered through a series of underground governmental experimentation, but rather than it be a story about their powers it is a tale about a brotherhood of comrades that happen to be mutants.
The Emotionally Fourteen Rating:
Violence: There is almost as much violence in this book as there is sex.
Sex/Nudity: Bucket loads of sex and nudity.
Swearing: None that is particularly noteworthy.
Summary: A truly enjoyable read, I would recommend it to anyone who fancies a change from the bog standard paranormal romance. 7/10
The Mage In BlackJaye Wells
Little, Brown Book Group
Available Now - £6.99 (Paperback)
Review by Charlotte Barnes
Sabina Kane doesn't have the best track record when it comes to family. After all, her own grandmother, leader of the vampire race, wants her dead. So when she arrives in New York to meet her mage relatives, the reunion puts the fun in dysfunctional. Not only is mage culture completely bizarre, but everyone seems to think she's some kind of 'Chosen' who'll unite the dark races. Sabina doesn't care who chose her, she's not into destiny.
But the mages aren't Sabina's only problem. In New York's Black Light District, she has run-ins with fighting demons, hostile werewolves and an opportunistic old flame. Sabina thought she'd take a bite out of the Big Apple - but it looks like it wants to bite back.
The Mage in Black made me so cross that I nearly hit Brad around the head for suggesting I read it (even my guinea pig, Rolo, did not want to chew it when I offered it to him). The main question that I was left asking when I finished reading it was “at what point does it stop being vampirism and start being cannibalism?”. The vampires in this novel can eat regular food and sustain themselves on it, but they can’t have special powers unless they drink human blood. Even better than that though, they can be killed by...wait for it... mother-fucking apple juice!
They cannot taste the “forbidden” fruit, so they can be killed by a stake made from an apple tree or bullets containing cider. To be honest I love a good paranormal romance and can forgive most things, but this was just a step too far even by my low standards. Although I will admit that when you get past all that crap, the characters were well developed and the story was well paced.
The Emotionally Fourteen Rating:
Violence: A significant amount, not enough to cover up the shittiness of the book though
Sex/Nudity: Some mild vampire sex (which always seems to be raunchier than any other kind of sex).
Swearing: None that is particularly note worthy.
Summary: Do yourself a favour and don’t read it. Save your money for a Kelly Armstrong novel. 3/10
Predators, a bold new chapter in the Predator universe, shot under the creative auspices of Robert Rodriguez, stars Adrien Brody as Royce, a mercenary who reluctantly leads a group of elite warriors who come to realise they’ve been brought together on an alien planet... as prey. With the notable exception of a disgraced physician, they are all cold-blooded killers – mercenaries, Yakuza, convicts, death squad members – human “predators” that are now being systemically hunted and eliminated by a new breed of alien predators.
The year is 2017. Lucy Pavlov is the CEO of PavSoft Industries, home of a revolutionary operating system that every computer in the world runs on. Her personal wealth is immeasurable, her intelligence is unfathomable, and she's been voted "Most Beautiful Woman" for three years running. To put it simply - she has it all.One thing, however, is not quite right in Lucy's life. She doesn't realise it yet, but she is, in fact, a bomb.
And not just any old bomb. Lucy is a very big and very smart bomb, and her mission is to blow up the planet known as Earth.
Blonde Bombshell is the science fiction debut from Tom Holt - one of the best-loved writers in fantasy fiction and an established force in comedy writing.
Blonde Bombshell is available in trade paperback from Thursday 13th May, priced £12.99.
Thanks to our friends at Orbit, we've got an advance copy of Blonde Bombshell to give away! For your chance of winning one, send us an e-mail to blondebombshellgiveaway@yahoo.co.uk with your name and postal address before midday on Tuesday 27th April (UK time). The first name drawn out of the electronic hat will win a free copy of this book, weeks before it's available to buy!
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